


Fated to be together

by Shortbread_Otaku (orphan_account)



Category: Love Live! School Idol Festival (Video Game), Love Live! School Idol Project
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/F, Fluff, Office Jobs, Red String of Fate, Teasing, Tiny bit of Angst, optimistic Nozomi, pessimistic Eli
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-01
Updated: 2019-01-01
Packaged: 2019-10-01 19:16:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,816
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17249858
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/Shortbread_Otaku
Summary: The red string of fate became visable on your 16th birthday and on your soulmate’s birthday. These were both days Eli loathed, she was terrified her soulmate might be a criminal, even if they weren’t she wasn’t sure if she could commit. Then one day a marketing manager wants to talk to her outside of work, Eli had no idea how this one person could turn her world upside down.





	Fated to be together

Eli hated working in an office. Every office was the same; the stuffy rooms, the idiotic questions her colleagues asked, they should be able to do their jobs. The extreme temperature range, always too hot or too cold. But what Eli hated the most was the paperwork, as a regional manager she was in charge of most things, sometimes all if the ‘big’ Boss didn’t care enough. So everyone ran to her, she had to put up with their questions, the paperwork and a lot more responsibilities that were definitely not in the job description. Did she mention she got paid the same as everyone else? The same might be an exaggeration, but there wasn’t much difference.

Eli sighed as she finally finished the pile of paperwork in front of her, now she could focus on her projects. 

Or so she thought before her attention was brought to the red string tied around her finger; it had appeared when she woke up this morning, she had gone to pull the covers back over her head when she saw a red string attached to her finger. It only ever appeared on her birthday and on June 9th days she both loathed. Eli was terrified of the thought that her soulmate might be a serial killer or worse! Whenever she told people this they called her crazy, they said that her soulmate would me a lovely person; unfortunately the universe did not like her. Because guess what today was, June the freaking 9th.

She was dragged out of her thoughts as a colleague walked over to her desk and slammed a mountain of paper down onto her desk.

“Boss says this needs to be finished by tomorrow.”

“But there’s only an hour left!” Eli complained as her college walked away.

She stared at the mountain of paperwork in front of her and sighed; she really hated this job.  
_________________________  
An hour and several hand cramps later Eli had finished the pile of paperwork. She could now finally go home and forget about June the 9th. And to show that the day was finished her long term friend Umi came over to her desk so they could walk to their apartment block together.

“Eli, do you remember that meeting you had around noon?”

“You mean the one with the woman with purple hair?”

“Yeah.” Umi began to rub her hands together, a sign that she was nervous. “She’s in the lobby, she wants to talk with you, alone.”

Eli facepalmed, after a long hard day she just wanted to go home, especially today. “Fine. I’ll go meet with her.”

“You know finding your soulmate wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.” Umi said as they walked towards the elevators. “And if they’re a serial killer, you could be the one to turn them around.”

“You only think that because your soulmate is a lovable ball of candy floss.” Eli mumbled pressing the ground floor button.

“Yours might be too!” Umi assured.

“You’re awfully optimistic today.” Eli commented. “Something awaiting you at home?”

“Someone.” Umi corrected. “You have someone waiting for you too.” Umi pointed towards the woman standing the lobby as the elevator door opened up.

“Ah yes, how… fun.” 

“I have got to go, see you tomorrow.” Umi waved goodbye as she walked away.

Eli started to approach the woman who Eli would of glanced twice at if she was walking down the street. Her long violet hair was tied into pigtails with two pink scrunchies, her emerald green eyes were wide open- unlike Eli who’s eyes were half closed- her nose was cutely scrunched up, almost like a rabbit. Eli would have described her more but she was afraid of calling her ‘attractive’.

“You must be Ms Toujou.” Eli said to the woman.

“Right you are, Ms Ayase.”

“You had something you wanted to talk about-” Eli’s stomach grumbled. At all times for her stomach to grumble it had to be now. She supposed it had to be fair, she had skipped lunch because of a meeting. She was scared she would be laughed at, judged. Instead all she got was a friendly smile.

“I’m a little hungry myself, shall we go get coffee?”

Eli hesitated, what if she met her soulmate? She wasn’t ready for that. She didn’t want to go yet her stomach growled in defiance.

“Thank you, Ms Tojo.”

“Please, call me Nozomi.” she smiled. “Shall we go?”

The cafe they went to was empty aside from a couple by the bar. Eli ordered a pastry but Nozomi insisted she should get a sandwich for her ‘poor’ stomach, so Eli ended up eating a sandwich and giving her pastry to Nozomi.

“So the business you wanted to speak about?” Eli asked.

“That was just an excuse to talk to you.” Nozomi said sheepishly. 

“What?” Eli nearly choked on her sandwich, she managed to retain some of her pride.

“Yeah.” Nozomi circled the crumbs on her plate. “All during that meeting I couldn’t take my eyes off of you; you were on my mind for the whole day. It was impossible to get any work done.” she chuckled.

“So I just had to see you again, talk to you on a, personal level.”

“Y-you couldn’t take your eyes of of me?” Eli said more than asked, nobody had ever told her that before, it gave her an odd feeling in her chest.

“I couldn’t. Hey, let me ask you a personal question, what do you think of sexuality?” Nozomi asked with a smirk.

“It’s not a thing.” Eli replied. “It doesn’t matter what your sexuality is, fate has already paired you with someone.”

“I thought you might say that, you seem like that type of person.”Nozomi decided. “We both know your string doesn’t fully appear until you’re sixteen, what if you knew before then? Let’s say a fourteen

year old found out they’re a lesbian, don’t you think fate would pair them with a lady?”

“By fourteen your soulmate would be pretty much set in stone.” 

“You’re right.” 

Was it that easy? Eli didn’t think she would give in so easily.

“But that was my fault, let me start again.” Nozomi continued to draw shapes in the crumbs in her plate. “Being gay isn’t a choice, you’re born that way. Meaning fate has had sixteen years to match you  
up, even if you don’t know it yet.”

“What are you trying to say?” Eli tilted her head in confusion.

Nozomi laughed, one loud enough to draw attention to the only other people in the room.

“If you haven’t gotten it yet, I suppose we need to play a game called guess my sexuality.” Nozomi smirked.

“What is- is your hand on my knee?”

“Yes it is.” Nozomi’s hand trailed up Eli’s knee, slowly reaching her thigh.

“Are you straight?” Eli guessed, her eyes glancing between her leg and Nozomi.

Nozomi stiffled a giggle. “You’re not trying very hard.”

“Bisexual?” Eli’s heart raced a million miles per hour as Nozomi’s hand trailed farther up her thigh.

“It really shouldn’t be this hard.”

“Are you… Lesbian?” Eli was tempted to remove Nozomi’s hand herself, it would be very easy to do; but this odd fluttering sensation in her chest told her not to.

“Ding, ding ,ding, we have a winner.” Nozomi smiled retracting her hand from Eli’s upper thigh.

“Why did you ask me that?” Eli asked tugging on the collar of her shirt, was it always so hot in here?

“I guess, it was my way of saying I think I’m your soulmate.” Nozomi was now looking down at the table in front of her, she was twiddling with her fingers and a faint blush was apparent on her cheeks.

Eli sat there paralysed. She wasn’t ready for a soulmate, bound together with someone for the rest of her life. What if Nozomi was telling the truth, she barely knew her, how could she spend the rest of her life with her. She could be a criminal or anything! Eli’s heart was racing so fast she felt as if it might explode. She could barely hear Nozomi’s voice in the background, with her heart thudding inside her chest and the havorc going on inside her head.

“I know it’s a lot to process, and you don’t have to commit straight away. I would just like it if you got to know me a little.”

“I-I don’t have to commit?” 

“If you’re not ready to, then you don’t have to commit.”

“Are-Are you sure?” Eli numbly asked.

Nozomi lifted her hand up to show the red string that was pointing towards Eli. “I’m pretty sure.”

Eli lifted up her own hand and saw her own red string pointing towards Nozomi. “How do I know you’re not a serial killer?”

Nozomi’s smile was comforting to Eli, she was the first person not to call her crazy.

“How do I know you’re not a serial killer?”

It was that response that shocked Eli in realisation, Nozomi had no idea what Eli’s background was like, she had as much knowledge as Eli did.

“I promise, I am not a criminal.”

“I also promise, that I am not a criminal.”

Eli was more terrified than ever. The butterflies in her stomach had turned into poisonous moths, and she was sure it was because she knew what this feeling was.

“I’m scared.” Eli blurted out. “I’m never usually this open to people I just met, but if you can’t tell your soulmate who can you tell?” Eli felt tears fill up her eyes. “I’m scared that I will fall in love, and then I’ll get hurt, or you turn out not to be who you said you are. I’m sorry I can’t be committed right now. So please put up with me.” Eli felt a gentle hand wipe away her tears.

“Why are you apologising? There’s no need.”Nozomi’s smile was as soft as the clouds just like her touch, which felt- oh no Eli was already falling into the deep end wasn’t she? 

“Take all the time you need. I will always be there if you need me.” Nozomi promised placing a kiss onto Eli’s forehead.

“Thank you.” Eli sniffed, wiping away the remaining tears. She can’t believe she got like that in front of someone she just met.

“Do you want to come back to my place? We could get to know each other better, and it’s not to far away.” At the look of fear in Eli’s eyes, Nozomi quickly added. “Nothing would happen, you could get the bed and I could get the couch.”

After some-okay a lot- of mental debating Eli spoke up. “Okay”

“Great. I’ll get the bill.” before Eli could protest Nozomi had left their booth and went up the counter.

Eli still couldn’t believe she had found her soulmate, and they weren’t a criminal, well probably not. Now she was going to stay in their apartment, her heart was still beating quickly but had slowed down, somehow the idea of going to Nozomi’s apartment didn’t scare her as much as she thought it would. Nozomi seemed like she would keep her word not to do anything, Eli hoped she was right.  
When Nozomi had paid she walked towards the door and held it open for Eli.

“So if we’re getting to know each other why not start with our jobs.” Nozomi suggested.

“I’m the regional manager of many different offices who gets paid the same as everyone else.” Eli told Nozomi.

“That doesn’t seem fair.”

“Tell me about it.” Eli sighed. “At my main office everyone either doesn’t care or is an idiot. One guy asked me five times in the same day how to use his email. My boss hardly ever does any of the work so it’s all up to me, I always have mountains of paperwork to do plus lots of projects. Some days are very busy and some days aren’t because my everyone has different information and whenever I asked for it for a project it always takes them two weeks if even to get back to me. I have to go to meetings all the time with their stuffy rooms and awkward atmosphere, my pay is barely above the rest and I get no respect. Just an hour before I left work I was given a mountain of paperwork to do that was due for tomorrow.” Eli sighed deeply covering her face with her hands.

“That sounds horrible, maybe you could look for a new job?My place is looking for people.” Nozomi offered.

“I don’t think I could get another job. Anyway how is your job?”

“Mine is good. I’m the marketing manager, the pay is good, working conditions are good and most of the people are nice.”

“I’m glad your job is pleasant.”

“So what’s your favourite food?” Nozomi asked walking up the steps to her building.

“I don’t think I have one, soba is nice though.” Eli replied.

“Soba is delicious but tempura is even better.” Nozomi opened up the door for Eli.

“I thought it would take longer to get here.”Eli muttered to herself.

“No, it’s pretty close to the cafe.”

Eli turned her head away from Nozomi, embarrassed at being heard. As she stepped into the elevator one thought was in her mind; this is the part where she gets murdered, or is actually okay.   
Nozomi unlocked the door to her apartment and to Eli’s relief she saw no bodies, or weapons, unless they were somewhere else. It was a simple apartment it had a couch, coffee table and television, there was a door to which Eli presumed was the kitchen. Then a hallway filled with closed doors.

“There used to be more things in here.” Nozomi explained. “But one night I had a party and lots of things broke, since then I haven’t replaced them. Besides lots of my money goes towards the other rooms.” 

“Oh. Nice.” Eli stood by the door as she awkwardly rubbed her arm.

“I’ll go get us a snack, go sit down.”

Eli did as told and sat down on the couch none of her awkwardness fading. She wasn’t sure how hungry she was after the sandwich, but she would eat it if nothing out of politeness.  
Nozomi came back into the room with two rice balls on a plate.

“I had some leftover so I thought you might like some.” she sat down next to Eli and offered her one, for a split second Eli hesitated but it was enough to provoke a reaction in Nozomi. “There’s no need to be so awkward. I know it was unexpected to say the least, but everything will be okay. I promise.” when Eli grabbed a rice ball and took a bite Nozomi burst out laughing. “You could cut the tension with a knife. would it help if I left you to your thoughts?”

“I think it would.” Eli answered setting her rice ball onto the plate.

“I’ll be in the shower.” Nozomi leaned in and whispered into Eli’s ear. “You’re welcome to join me,” she pulled back giggling, “just kidding.” she left the room leaving Eli’s face red.

Having nothing else to do Eli pulled out her phone and looked up Nozomi Tojo. The first thing she found was her social media profiles, she clicked into one but found nothing but pictures of Nozomi and her friends. Though she did find a picture of the party where lots of Nozomi’s things broke. She scrolled through the page eventually finding something other than social media. “What’s Nozomi doing at a charity event?” Eli mumbled to herself clicking on the news article in question.

Nozomi held an ice skate for charity event, she had skated for eight hours raising thousands for charity. Below was a picture of Nozomi ice skating and Eli hated it but, Nozomi looked radiant. Even through the picture you could tell how happy she was, she was practically glowing. Eli hadn’t noticed how slender her legs were but they were displayed beautifully in the picture.

“She isn’t a criminal at all.” Eli said to herself. Eli could not believe that her soulmate was a kind and considerate person, who wasn’t a criminal. She must have been staring at the picture for a while as Nozomi came back into the room with blankets.

“You’re not a criminal at all.” Eli blurted out as she looked up at Nozomi. 

“I’m not.” Nozomi smiled sitting down with the blankets folded on her lap.

“Were those rice balls leftover from your charity event?”

“They were.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

“Thought it sounded like boasting.”

Eli stared for what felt like eternity until Nozomi pointed towards her phone and spoke up. “Do you like the photograph?”

Eli glanced at her phone which was still open on the article about Nozomi. A faint blush crossed her face as she remembered what she had thought. “Beautiful. You looked like you were having so much fun.”

“I was.” Nozomi smiled at the picture. “I didn’t get up for two days, but it was fun and worth it.” 

“Wow.” Is all Eli thought to say.

“I figured you’d be tired so I brought my blankets out here.”

“Wait so you weren’t kidding about sleeping on the couch?” Eli said amazed at the genorosity Nozomi has already shown her.

“Of course not.”

“I couldn’t do that, I’d feel awful.” Eli said, the main reason for saying no being how uncomfortable she would feel. 

“If you feel too uncomfortable, you could sleep out here.” 

“Would it be okay?”

“Of course.” Within a second Nozomi had started making up a bed for Eli.

“Thank you, Nozomi.” Eli stood up and waited for Nozomi to finish.

“There all done, do you want to borrow pyjama’s or are you okay?” Nozomi offered.

“I’m okay, thank you.” 

“Okay then, Eli. Good night.” Nozomi turned off the lights and left the room.

Eli climbed under the covers of her makeshift bed and rested her head on the pillow. She couldn’t believe how much has happened in one day, she had found her soulmate and was now at their home, and they were a good person. Eli thought she would feel sick but she doesn’t instead she has this fluttering sensation, she feels like she could fly and that feeling scares her but at the same tine she doesn’t. Her mind was racing with thoughts each fighting to be the one Eli thinks about the most. It’s going to be a long night.  
__________________________  
When Eli wakes up her head feels like it’s full of cotton, her back aches and so do all her other muscles. The sunlight was shining through the window blinding Eli upon sight, she wanted to turn over and go back to sleep but she smelt food cooking. She dragged herself from the couch and walked sluggishly towards the kitchen.

“Good morning Eli.” Nozomi was standing by the counter plating up the food she had made.

“Morning.” Eli said tiredly, she sat down on a kitchen chair eating the food that was put in front of her. “Thank you, you didn’t have to make me breakfast.”

“I was making breakfast for myself so I decided to make some for you too.”

The breakfast was very good, Eli didn’t expect Nozomi to be such a good chef.

“Oh I nearly forgot.” Nozomi went over to the counter and brought back two mugs of coffee. “I thought you might like some after a night on the couch.”

“Thank you, it’s my favourite drink.” Eli took a sip of the coffee hoping her weariness would go away.

“How did you sleep last night?”wondered Nozomi’

“Okay. My head feels like cotton and my body aches.”Eli responded.

“Wow, been a while since someone has felt like that and it wasn’t because of me.” Nozomi joked cutting up her egg.

“What about you? How did you sleep?”Eli queried.

“I slept good. Woke up before my alarm was set to go off.” Nozomi answered. “So about last night. I would like to get to know you better, if that’s okay with you.”

“It took me a while to get to sleep last night, probably because of all the thoughts in my head, but I know now that I would like to get to know you better.” Eli confessed, finishing up her breakfast.

“Great! Can I take your plate?” Eli nodded, Nozomi took both their plates and begin to wash up.

“I can help with that.”

“There’s no need, why don’t you take a shower.”

“Okay.” Eli did feel a bit awkward taking a shower here but quickly got over it as she locked the door and got into the shower.

She found her mind would wander as the hot water flowed down her body like a waterfall, she imagined what if would be like to be here every day. When she was finished she walked out of the room and towards the couch where Nozomi was watching television. It was nice, they watched in silence only to stop when Eli remembered something. 

“When I met you in the lobby I was with a friend, I never texted her to say I wouldn’t be home.”

“Do you think she’s worried?

“If she tried to visit me then yes. I should probably go.” Eli got up and headed towards the door.

“I had a great time.” Nozomi said to Eli.

“I did too, we should meet up sometime.” Eli agreed.

“Luckily I didn’t forget to give you my number.” Nozomi held out a piece of paper for Eli to take. 

Eli wasn’t a hasty woman, she thought about her decisions and made them clear as could be. Someone once told her if you take too long to decide about everything you’ll miss out, so heeding their advice Eli gathered up her courage and took Nozomi’s hand.

A pleasant feeling ran through Eli’s veins, a feeling she was now happy to say was love.

“Eli, my birthday was yesterday.” Nozomi said a little confused.

“I know. On my birthday we will do it properly. I just wanted to let you know that I would do it.” Eli wasn’t used to expressing her emotions to people she had known for a day, but something told her(other than the soulmate thing) that Nozomi was special, so she took the plunge.

“I look forward to seeing you again.” Nozomi chirped walking Eli down to the buildings lobby.

“As do I.” Eli let go of Nozomi’s hand and waved goodbye, excitement bubbling inside of her at the thought of seeing her again.

Her fear of having a soulmate didn’t completely vanish, she was still afraid of being tied to someone forever; but if it had to be someone, she was glad for it to be Nozomi.


End file.
